


In My Eyes, It's Only You         aka Love At First (Bboy) Sight

by haoships



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Dancer Xu Ming Hao | The8, First Meetings, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Kim Mingyu is Whipped, Love at First Sight, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Tags Are Hard, Tags Contain Spoilers, Tags May Change
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-26
Updated: 2020-04-08
Packaged: 2021-02-28 21:14:17
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 17,538
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23323765
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/haoships/pseuds/haoships
Summary: Idol Kim Mungyu thinks he's in love and it maybe driving him mad not knowing anything about his first love.--
Relationships: Kim Mingyu/Xu Ming Hao | The8
Comments: 8
Kudos: 85





	1. Whipped at First Sight

**Author's Note:**

> Some basic intro:
> 
> Mingyu - rapper of the popular idol group SVN. Likes sneaking out so much that the management stopped reprimanding him under the conditions of being properly disguised and staying out of trouble. 
> 
> Minghao - exchange student from China trying to earn extra thru street performances. Has gained quite a following because your boy is really talented (read: HOT) despite not showing his face to the crowd. He is adamant that he is not going to expose himself like that. He is only doing this for the extra money afterall. 
> 
> SVN - a popular 7 piece idol group composed of Seungcheol, Hoshi, Wonwoo, Seokmin, Mingyu, Seungkwan and Chan.
> 
> T Studio - dance group composed of Junhui, Jeonghan, Jisoo, Jihoon and Hansol
> 
> Chillas - SVN fandom name (seven is 칠 in korean which reads as "chil")  
> ☆☆☆  
> First half of work title taken from Aju Nice aka my pick me up song  
> ☆☆☆  
> IMPORTANT NOTE:  
> I have had this concept in my head for a very long time and basically asked(?) a few AU writers to do(?) it if they could. Im not sure if anybody did so I tried to write it on my own. THIS WHOLE QUARANTINE SITUATION LEFT ME WITH MORE TIME AND NOTHING TO DO, HENCE- THIS MESS. So if you see a story with a plot similar to this, NOBODY COPIED/STOLE ANYBODY'S PLOT. I'm not sure where i am going with this because i have so many scenarios running in my head but have very limited words and its frustrating but i am trying. I hope those really good AU writers also take on this plot bc i want to see how they will work their magic on it (i promise i will not feel bad if they do a way better job than i did- i would like to read them all). 
> 
> UPDATE: One of the writers I gave this prompt to WROTE IT AND IT'S SO GOOD (I almost considered discontinuing this one because this is kinda embarrassing compared to that one and also because i felt bad for writing the plot i gave to someone, but she(?) told me to not stop writing this and i amost cried, WHAT AN ANGEL)!! Whoever's reading this, please check it out! Same general plot but it's also different and i'm loving it! It's also a chaptered AU, 3-4 chapters according to the writer. Search it up. Title: I'VE BEEN LOOKING FOR YOU by HAO1107
> 
> Sorry I cant link it.  
> Im a Hoshi when it comes to these kinda stuff.
> 
> ☆☆☆  
> As usual- not betaed  
> English is not my first language, sorry for anything an English teacher may try correcting  
> I'm very new to writing so please spare me  
> 

On one of Mingyu's escapades he chanced upon a crowd. Shouts of _yeah's_ , _oh my god's, he is so good's_ could be heard coming from the circle. Being the curious big puppy that he is, he slowly walked to the crowd. A silent prayer of thanks for his long legs, he could see a lone guy dancing in the middle of the packed audience. Now, Mingyu is used to seeing performances. He is a performer himself. But that did not stop his jaw from dropping when he had a better view of what's happening. The guy in the middle of the crowd was so lithe Mingyu stopped counting the windmills he did after the 6th. The guy then pulled his hoodie over his ballcap and did the freaking headspin. Mingyu was dizzy by the time bboy stopped spinning. Mingyu doesn't know when his legs started walking further into the crowd. He just realized he did so when he was already standing just a couple of feet away from the star of this little show.

"Clear the space. This is not a busking area." A police with a megaphone walked into the crowd. The police gave an exasperated sigh when he saw the guy standing in the middle of the crowd. "You again? I warned you last time. I'm gonna have to take you in this time."

The police held onto the bboy's wrist and slowly pulled him thru the crowd towards the waiting patrol car. The bboy started protesting in what Mingyu is sure is not Korean.

Without thinking, Mingyu grabbed the boy's other wrist and pulled him, and they started running.

Not looking back, they ran for Mingyu doesn't know how long without letting go of the wrist he was holding. They only slowed down when Mingyu felt a tug and they only stopped when Mingyu was sure they weren't being followed.

The two boys stood looking at each other's disguised faces and as if on cue, they both started to laugh. It didn't take Mingyu long before he stopped to a halt. _Was it angels he was hearing? The sweetest sound of chimes hanging on the terrace of his dream house by the beach?_ No, he realized. It was the sound of the boy in front of him laughing. It's the sweetest, softest, most beautiful thing he has ever heard (Seokmin and Seungkwan will never know). Mingyu wanted to reach out. Pull the mask off this boy's face. He wants to see him. Before he could do anything though, the boy in front of him backed away and with a little bow and "kamsahamnida" he started to jog away from Mingyu.

It's been two weeks since his last escapade. Two weeks of preparing for their next comeback. It was all good and Mingyu was living for the adrenaline of it all. He would spend the days with his members in the practice rooms and most evening writing bars. But that does not mean he's forgotten about that boy. He thinks about the boy when he wakes up. He thinks about him when he's lying in bed waiting for sleep to take him. Hell, he even swears he dreams about the boy sometimes too. Sometimes, when he closes his eyes, he thinks he could hear that boy's giggle. His members think he's crazy. He doesn't refute.

"Where are you off to this time?" Seungcheol, SVN's leader asked when he saw Mingyu taking his jacket off the rack. He was already wearing his ballcap and mask so it really wasn't hard for the leader to figure it out. They just finished dinner and everybody else is turning in for the night.

"Just..wherever my feet takes me" Mingyu answered with a shy grin.

Seungcheol rolled his eyes but ended with a fond smile. "I hope you find what you're looking for Gyu."

Mingyu closed the door behind him but not before getting a playful wink from the best leader ever.

The beanpole finds himself walking around the area where he was a couple of weeks ago. His neck ready to swear at him for all the unnecessary movements, stretching it out every so often hoping to find what he's looking for, but he couldn't help it. It took him an hour walking around both hyperaware of some people looking at him and uncaring at the same time. He just wants too see that boy again. Hear him giggle one more time..maybe more than one more time. When people started pointing fingers in his direction, Mingyu decided it was time to go home.

Mingyu was lying on his bed staring at his ceiling when a thought crossed his mind.  
"I'm so stupid!" He scolds himself as he grabbed his charging phone off the night stand. He opened the app for Youtube, thumbs hovering on the search field. He contemplates. What does he type in there? He tried "Hongdae street dancer" and hundreds of search result appeared. He didn't have to scroll far though. Because right there, the very first thumbnail he saw the familiar lithe boy wearing a mask and a ballcap. Mingyu's smile widened when he saw the title of the video. "Hottest bboy Hongdae's ever seen". Mingyu couldn't agree more.

Youtube took most of Mingyu's free time. He clicks on one bboy video and closes it as soon as he realizes it was not what he was looking for. At first he was content on watching the videos. Then he finds himself reading the comments hoping he would see something, anything that could pin the bboy's identity down. All he knows (based on the comments he's seen) is that the guy just shows up wherever buskers are allowed to perform. He finds the mysteriousness of this guy amusing and annoying at the same time. Is it too much to want to know who the guy is? His name? Where he's going to perform next? Does he like idols? _Would he consider dating one?_

"Hyung! Mingyu hyung's at it again!" Seungkwan, _that little snitch._

"I said water break and you went stalking." Hoshi said, sitting next to Mingyu. The older hooked his chin on Mingyu's shoulder to see what Mingyu is looking at. On the phone screen is the very first video Mingyu saw of the guy. Hoshi watched in awe as the bboy did backflips like it was as simple as breathing. "Hey, imagine if we have that as a backup. That would be sick!" Hoshi couldn't help the grin on his face. Mingyu thought about it and smiled dreamily. "Yeah, imagine that." Damn these butterflies in his stomach.

\--

They were just leaving the building when he heard it. Seungcheol almost had a heart attack when he felt a swoosh of air as Mingyu very suddenly spun around looking for the source of the sound that hunts him in his sleep.

"What is it? Are you okay?" Seungcheol had to ask, fisting his shirt over his chest, trying to calm his own heart.

"Did you hear that hyung?" Mingyu holding on Seungcheols shoulders, his eyes are wide (read:wild) it was a bit scary Chan felt the need to hide behind Wonwoo and Seungkwan for an extra layer of protection.

Everybody was quiet for a while, straining their ears trying, listening to whatever it is Mingyu is on about. Other than the few cars speeding by, there was nothing. It was then that Mingyu thought that maybe, he's gone nuts.

The next few weeks came in a blur. Promotions, fan signing, variety show appearances, SVN would be lucky if they didn't have to leave the dorm before noon. This also meant less time to think about a certain guy for Mingyu. The members never brought it up but they were almost convinced Mingyu's crazy fanboy days are over.

\--

Mingyu walked in the practice room and was surprised when he saw familiar faces he doesn't see too often.

"What's going on?" He asked Seokmin as he carelessly plopped down next him. Seokmin looked at him with wide eyes. "Dude, I know we're all tired but did you really forget we're meeting for the tour?"

Mingyu looked around and sure enough, all the big guys are there. Managers, stylists, music directors and some more people Mingyu are familiar with sitting on the plastic chairs provided. Mingyu pulled out his phone from his jeans pocket and opened SVN's IG account with the intention of posting some sort of a teaser/hint for the fans for the upcoming tour. He was about to tap on the capture button when a recent post from Hoshi's personal account caught his attention. Hoshi's arm was extended as he took a selfie with a group of guys behind him all smiling at the camera. His eyes zooms in on a boy with black mullet and eyeglasses perched almost at the tip of his button nose. His smile wasn't as big as the others around him but boy was he _beautiful_. Mingyu was distracted when the director came in and eventually forgot about the picture. At least for the rest of the day.

\--

"Where is Hoshi hyung? I could still be sleeping right now." Chan whines as he stretches like a starfish on the practice room floor.

"He's coming. He just went to get the guys who will be backing us." As expected. Seungcheol always have the answers. And as if on cue, the door opens. Hoshi came waltzing in (yes, waltzing) followed by 5 guys carrying either backpacks or gym bags. SVN, as big as they are, all stood up to properly greet the newcomers.

"Guys! This is T Studio. They are the people we'll be working with on the tour." Hoshi started with a big grin on his face. "I swear this will be our best tour yet. These guys are bomb waiting to explode on the dance floor! I can't fucking wait!"

"Easy, Tiger. We have a baby here." Seungcheol reprimanded, although there's no actual bite in his tone.

"Who are you calling a baby hyung?" Chan whines like the baby he is. Seungcheol smirked as he raised his brows as if trying to prove a point.

"How cute!" One of the newcomers cooed. Chan throws him a glare and the new guy couldn't help but let out a light laugh.

Mingyu just stood there observing the new guys. They all seemed to be close to their ages and it's very easy to think they would all get along just fine. They are all easy on the eyes too.

Junhui, the leader of the backing dancers promises they will do their absolute best to make this the best tour yet just like Hoshi said and proceeded to introducing the rest of the guys. Jeonghan, the handsome guy that cooed at Chan said there's another member who couldn't join today. Something about having to fix some important papers but will be joining tomorrow.

Turns out, working with these guys really is a breeze. They basically know all the choreo to SVN songs. Junhui and Jihoon did dance impromptus to some B-sides. Jeonghan and Jisoo sang along the more popular songs that played and Hansol did a little rap battle with Chan. Mingyu couldnt believe their luck. Like really.

"It can't get any better than this." Seungcheol said what Mingyu's been thinking the whole time.

Hoshi turned to look at the leader with a smirk on his face. "That's what you think."

"We did say we have someone else in the team. He's the newest addition to our group and he's got some really sick moves." Junhui piped up while messing with Chan's hair. "You'll meet him tomorrow. You'll love him!"


	2. Testing Chan's Theory

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> SVN meets the new guy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's another chapter. I still don't know where im going with this so im just really winging it i hope its not THAT bad.  
> Let me know your thoughts so I know how to proceed with this? Idk im stupid sometimes.
> 
> ☆☆☆
> 
> As usual, not betaed.  
> English is not my first language so please go easy on me.
> 
> STREAM FALLIN' FLOWER!

Junhui's wrong. Mingyu doesn't love him. He doesn't even like him. The guy doesn't look like he wants to be here if Mingyu's being honest and wonders just how good he is that Hoshi brought him along. He doesn't talk as much as the others. He kept to himself most of the time and he barely smiled. In fact, he has that scowl on his face as if it was his normal facial expression. _Too bad_ , Mingyu thought. With soft features like that, he was sure he'd be _really pretty_ if only he'd smile a little.

"What's his problem?" Mingyu couldn't help but ask Hoshi when they stopped for water break. Eyes not wandering away from the lanky guy practicing SVN's hardest choreo in front of the mirror.

Hoshi followed Mingyu's gaze and smiled when the question finally registers. "What's your problem? Minghao's cool."

"Hyung, I have never seen him smile since he got here. He has that scowl on his face like it came as a package deal." Mingyu answered in a whisper thru gritted teeth.

Hoshi couldn't help but scoff at that. "Oh come on! I saw the look in your eyes when you were checking him out on that picture I posted the other day."

Mingyu's eyes widened comically. He didn't think anybody saw him staring at the picture at the time.

"H-how d-did you.." Mingyu couldn't finish his sentence as Hoshi lets out a laugh.

"Dude. It's pretty obvious now that i think of it more. These are the same guys on the picture with me but you didn't really show any recognition to any of them yesterday. Then new guy comes in today and you're all worked up. Give him a break will you? He prolly doesn't understand half of what we're saying." Hoshi explained. Mingyu just stared at him. Rolling his eyes, Hoshi explained further. "He's pretty new here. He's an exchange student from China."

Mingyu couldn't sleep that night. All these new information about this new guy Minghao did things to him. Slightly forgotten memories coming back. He grabbed his phone from the night stand and opened Hoshi's IG account. Damn Hoshi and his apparent need for uploading posts all the time. _Where did he find time to upload that many pictures in a span of 3 days?_ He scrolled down until he found what he was looking for. He zoomed in on the guy with the button nose. The guy whose name is Minghao. _It really is him_ , Mingyu thought. He looks so much better with a smile on his face. _Beautiful, even_. No matter how small that smile is. Mingyu finds himself wanting to see Minghao smile and how his smile would light up the room. He sighs when he realized he's being ridculous. He closed his eyes and forced jog his memory to that night in Hongdae. The bboy guy with the most beautiful laugh. The guy who's eyes are the only facial feature he could see and wonders if he will ever see him again.

\--

Mingyu came to dance practice late the next day. He barely had any sleep the night before and he had a solo schedule in the morning that demanded his physical strength. Needless to say, he's beyond exhausted by the time he got to the practice room. Seungcheol told him to sit this one out and Mingyu couldn't find it in himself to argue. He did ask if he could stay and watch and the leader didn't have any problems with that.

With nothing else to do, Mingyu just sat in the corner of the room and his eyes lock on Minghao. Something stirs up in Mingyu's stomach the longer he studies the new guy. For some reason he feels like he's seen him before he even saw the picture Hoshi posted. _Where?_ He doesn't really know. The way he moves, powerful and graceful at the same time. He's so fluid Mingyu thinks he's gonna evaporate into thin air at one point. Maybe Junhui is right in a way. This new guy is really good in his craft. Maybe even one of the best Mingyu's seen.

"Let's take a short break guys!" Seungcheol shouted over the music as he walked to where the song is playing. A collective sigh of relief could be heard from everyone.

"I think I'm gonna pass out." It was Chan. Jeonghan walked over to Chan who is now lying on the floor and offered him his water bottle which Chan gratefully took. Jeonghan playfully ruffled his sweaty hair and coos.

"Hyung stop treating me like a baby." Chan whines.

"Never. From now on, you're Jeonghan hyung's baby." Jeonghan chortles, folding his arms across his chest.

On the other side of the room Mingyu sees Junhui and Hoshi showing each other neat moves. Probably discussing what they could add to the choreographies for the special stages. Junhui pulls Minghao up from where he is seated and whispered something in his ear. Minghao nods and walked to the other side of the room.

Just before anything could happen, Mingyu feels a tap on his shoulder. He turned to see their Manager.

"CEO wants to talk to you about that solo project. It looks like it's a pretty big deal to him that you accept, to be honest."

Before he could say anything, a loud cheer errupted behind him. The younger members were jumping in excitement, wide smile on their faces. Seungcheol stood frozen in his place mouth agape, eyes wide. Hoshi and Wonwoo shares a look of what Mingyu can only describe as awe. Even his manager has his eyes almost jumping out of their sockets.

"W-what happened?" Mingyu finds himself asking. He feels so out of place.

But before he could get his answer, their manager drags him out of the practice room towards the CEO's office.

\--

By the time Mingyu's done talking to the CEO, the back up dancers have left. He finds his members getting ready to leave. Seungcheol spots him first.

"Gyu! Everything okay with the big boss?" Seungcheol asks as he turns off the lights.

The leader pulls him back a little and let the others go first. Mingyu knows this is Seungcheol's way of talking to him in private and Mingyu's thankful for that. Seungcheol's aware of Mingyu's struggles when it comes to decision making and the leader is so natural when it comes to giving advices.

"Gyu, you do know that we support you a hundred percent right?" Seungcheol asks quietly.

Mingyu sighs. He knows that of course. These people who he now calls his brothers have been nothing but supportive with everything Mingyu does outside his group activities. He knows his leader knows that these offers he gets burdens him. He is thankful for all the offers but he feels apologetic to the others. They're supposed to be a group and he hates that he is being singled out. At first, he agreed to the solo projects because he thought that would help promote his group when they were just starting but it's been _years_ now and he doesn't understand why his team is still cool with it.

Mingyu took a deep breath befor speaking up his mind.

"Hyung, I don't know.. I know you guys are nothing but supportive and I _am_ thankful for that.. I just.. it doesn't feel right anymore.." Mingyu feels a little sting in his eyes. "I don't know how to say this without sounding like a complete ungrateful jerk but.. you know.. I'm being offered these things and.. I don't know - I feel burndened? We're a team! We should be getting offers as a group.." he trails off, eyes watching his shoes as he walks. He doesn't dare look up.

Seungcheol halts. Mingyu stops walking when he realized Seungcheol's not into step with his. He looks back and sees a scowl on the leader's face. Mingyu, feeling small went back to looking at his shoes. Seungcheol drags his feet so he's just a step away from the younger, folding his arms across his chest.

"Kim Mingyu. We've been over this. And I will say to you what I said to you before. We're brothers. We support you if it's something you want to do and if it is not, all you have to do is say no and we'll back you up. You're presented with all these opportunities because you're _good_ at it! Stop thinking about these offers not being fair to us as a group. As SVN. We're doing fine. We're all getting solo projects too. Seungkwan and Seokmin are doing well in variety shows. Me and Wonwoo got that rap program we're a regular on. Dino and Hoshi also are dance mentors to just about any idol survival show there is. And these are all _thanks to you._ You sacrificed sleep when we were just rookies so you can put our name out there for people to know. Even the CEO talks about that and please.. if you think we feel some bitterness or whatever, then you will greatly disappoint me Kim Mingyu." Seungcheol rambles and with every word, Mingyu couldn't help the fondness he feels in his heart. He doesn't know what he's done to have such wonderful group of people around him.

Mingyu wipes his eyes with the back of his hand as he feels arms warp around him. A few seconds after, he's being squeezed in warm bodies as the others join in for a group hug.

"This is so cheesy I am so done." The maknae complains and everyone starts to laugh.

Seungkwan wipes Mingyu's tears for him with the sleeve of his shirt, fond smile on his face. Wonwoo started rubbing his back in comfort. Hoshi holds his hand. "I can't believe you're still thinking about that. I'm a little disappointed." Mingyu sniffles. "I'm sorry hyung. I'm sorry you heard all that."

"Yeah.. we're sorry we're a bunch of gossip girls too." Seungkwan says with a playful smile.

Mingyu smiled at that. He took a shaky breath and played with the hem of his shirt. "You guys are the best. I can never ask for more. I love you guys."

Chan rolled his eyes and pulled Mingyu back in a tight hug. "We're always here for you hyung. You know that. I will fight anybody who makes you do something you don't want to do. Don't keep these things to yourself hyung. You have us."

Seungcheol fondly ruffles Chan's hair. "When did you become such a grown up?" He asks.

They went home light hearted with a promise to tell at least someone if they're bothered about anything at all and knowing that everybody is willing to listen.

Mingyu was up early the next day. The six hours sleep he had was enough to make him feel well rested that he went straight to the kitchen when he woke up. He's gonna cook breakfast for everybody. Last night's talk helped unload all his burdens and he's sure today is gonna be a good day. It's been a while since he felt this light hearted and he's all for it.

Seungcheol woke up to the smell of fresh coffee brewing. He took his place on the breakfast table and greets Mingyu a _good morning_. Mingyu gave him a cup of coffee which he took with a soft thanks. "Breakfast's almost ready hyung." Mingyu says as he flips the last of the pancake cooking.

It didn't take long before the rest joined them for breakfast.

"Jun hyung and Minghao can't join us for the dance practice today. Something about fixing something really important. But the rest of the guys are going to be there." Hoshi said placing his phone back in his pocket.

"Is everything okay?" Wonwoo asked.

Hoshi just shrugged but the concern in his eyes did not escape the leader's scrutiny.

"What's up?" Seuncheol asked. Everybody's eyes trained on Hoshi by now.

Hoshi looked at each of his members before he spoke up. "Minghao's been having a little problem with his visa it seems like. Apparently the exchange program in his university got cancelled because of some scandal in school so he's being asked to go back. Jun hyung's helping him fix it since they're both Chinese and he's the only one who can really help Minghao with the issue."

"What can he do? Is there any way we can help out?" Wonwoo asked.

Mingyu is not oblivious of how Wonwoo's eyes would linger on the older dancer. He would generously compliment the guy with his dancing and Mingyu thinks its cute. People don't just get compliments out of Wonwoo afterall.

Hoshi took another bite of his pancake before he answers. "The last thing Jun hyung said is that he's gonna have Minghao be officially employed under T Studio. So basically change his visa so instead of a student visa he gets an employment visa which is better anyway."

There's a series of nods in the room, showing understanding of the situation.

"I really hope it works out. Minghao hyung is so cool! It would be a waste if he couldn't join us." Chan said pouting.

Mingyu couldn't wrap his head around it. Everybody seems to really like him while he barely had exchanged a word with the other.

"True! Oh my god those stunts he did last night! I swear he's gonna be the talk of Chillas (a/n i cant think of a fandom name forgive me the name sucks) when the concert is over and he'll be more popular than us!" Seungkwan exaggerated with a whine while everybody else, except Mingyu, just laughs at him.

Seungcheol noticed Mingyu's confused face so he offered the explanation after he lets out his last giggles. "Ahh.. Chan was pestering Minghao last night to show other moves after he did the backflips during dance practice. Too bad you weren't there last night! The guy just went off!" Seungcheol said making that gesture as if the whole thing blew his mind off.

"Oh my god what if he's the guy from Hongdae??" Chan yelps. Everybody's head whips to his direction, including Mingyu. Mingyu felt his blood rush to his head. "I mean.. he's a bboy and he's not Korean. Didn't Mingyu hyung say he spoke a different language before Mingyu hyung played the knight in shining armor role?" Chan's eyes got wider and wider as he speaks his mind.

Hoshi smirked and nudged Mingyu on the side. "Yah. It's not impossible." Hoshi teased, wiggling his eyebrows.

Mingyu could only cover his face with his hands. He's so embarassed he doesn't know what to say. _Because, yes, it is not impossible._

Seungcheol decided its time to leave Mingyu alone. He claps his hands and told everyone to start preparing for the day and to leave Mingyu alone, although he did say the last part with a teasing smirk of his own.

\--

To Mingyu's horror, Seungkwan took it upon himself to investigate and test Chan's theory. The " _little pest_ " as Mingyu now calls him in his head, chatters up the dancers when they arrived.

"Oh? Where's Jun hyung and Minghao hyung?" Seungkwan asks.

Chan lighs up and smirked waiting for the others to take the bait. Wonwoo clearly paying extra attention to the conversation for his own benefit, Mingyu's sure.

Jeonghan unzips his sweater before he answered. "Oh they won't be coming today. So it's just us."

"Is everything okay?" It was Chan who asked this time.

Jeonghan smiled fondly at the younger. "Yes baby. Everything's okay. They just have to do some important stuff for Minghao's visa. Don't worry about it okay?"

Mingyu doesn't miss the way Seungcheol's eyes soften at the sight of the maknae being treated so well by the older.

"I hope it's nothing serious. I can't wait to dance with Minghao hyung again! He's crazy good!" Ah.. alas.. the start of Mingyu's pain.

Hoshi took Chan's last words as a cue to jump in. "Where did he learn all that stuff?" He asked innocently.

Jihoon decided to also jump in the conversation. "We've known him for a while now and he was already good when we met him."

"Really? I didn't know about him before I asked you guys to back us up though?" Hoshi looks genuinely surprised this time.

"He goes to Jun's university. Jun was a senior when he met Hao they were in the same club. Jun kinda adopted the kid when he found out he was Chinese too. He couldn't join us much in our dance gigs because he still has uni so he did street performances for gigs." Jisoo explains as he does his stretches. Jeonghan hums in thought. "Then this whole student visa cancellation thing happened. So he's been out of school for almost a month now and they're asking him to go back to China since that's what he's here for. Jun's aunt knows someone and they're trying to help him out with an employment visa so he doesn't get deported." Jeonghan frowns a bit. "God I really hope it all works out! The kid's been through so much." He added with a sigh.

Seungcheol reached out and squeezed Jeonghan's shoulder. "It'll be fine." He reassures with a smile.

Mingyu couldn't help the smile on his own lips when Jeonghan smiled back at his leader.

"He doesn't speak much does he?" Mingyu surprised himself for asking.

Seokmin simply arched an eyebrow, a surprised face of his own.

"Well.. it's not that he doesn't talk much," it was Hansol who answers this time. "He just..takes a while to get comfortable. I mean, it took months before he really opened up to us. He's admittedly not the best in Korean too so he's kinda insecure about that."

Jeonghan chortles. Seungcheol raised one eyebrow at that. "I mean. That kid. He's insecure about a lot of stuff. He doesn't know how good he really is. So we kinda have to remind him how good he is and to just be confident. He's an angel once he's comfortable. Just give him time." Jeonghan explained.

"Oh my God remember when he came home one time and told us he almost went to jail if not for this one guy who helped him out?" Jihoon pipes up, eyes getting rounder at the thought.

Chan lets out an ugly squeal before he excused himself and grabbed Seungkwan's hand and pulled him out the door.

"Are they okay?" Jeonghan asked, concern apparent in his voice.

Seungcheol smiled his sweetest smile. "Don't worry about them. They're more than okay."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Scream at me @haoships on twt
> 
> also, DID YOU GUYS SEE XU MINGHAO'S DAZED PICTURES??? MY BOY'S BEAUTIFUL HOLY FUCK!


	3. So It Happened..

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They formally meet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi. I hope this is not too bad for an update.
> 
> Man, this quarantine thingy sucks but please be safe everyone! Stay indoors!

Mingyu's head is buzzing. Now that he thinks about it, he doesn't know what the big deal is. So he may have found the guy he spent sleepless nights looking for. Then what? **_Nothing_**. He tells himself. Because really, there's nothing to it. He just got curious and he's pretty sure it was the adrenaline that night that caused him to act as he did. I mean, you don't get to run away from the police very often.

It was with this thought that Mingyu puffed his chest up, walked up to the mirror wall and started stretching. He did skip yesterday’s dance practice so he will need to take his time with the stretches.

While he's doing so, he caught Hoshi smirking at him.

 _What the fuck?_ He thinks. This could not be good. Hoshi is looking so much like the devil like this.

After a few minutes, Chan and Seungkwan came back looking like they got all things figured out, if the smug look on their faces is anything to go by. Chan walked up to Mingyu's side and started stretching of his own.

"Hyung," he whispers, as if telling him a secret.

Mingyu can only roll his eyes. "What is it, Chan?"

Chan met Mingyu's eyes in the mirror and smiled his most annoying smile Mingyu kinda wanted to punch it off his face but he wouldn't because he'll never forgive himself if he did so.

"Nothing. Just making sure you're still with us." _That little devil._

"Channie! Are you okay? You just ran out." Jeonghan asks, concern laced in his voice as he placed himself behind Chan, helping him stretch his triceps.

Chan smiled at the newcomer through the reflection on the mirror and nodded his head. "Yes hyung. I told you to stop babying me though." He then pouted.

Jeonghan chuckles. "How can I when you're being cute like this!" He whines with a pout of his own.

Mingyu caught the shift in Chan's expression and braced himself for what's coming.

"Hyung. Jihoon hyung said something about Minghao hyung earlier? He almost went to jail? What happened?" Of course he had to ask.

Jeonghan's eyebrows furrowed a bit at the question.

"What's with all these questions about Minghao all of a sudden?" He asked with genuine curiousity.

Mingyu watched Chan just shake his head saying "Nothing. You guys can't just say something like that without expecting us not to ask about it." Chan answers very smoothly.

Jeonghan shrugged. "Yeah. I guess you're right."

"So? What happened?" Seungkwan egged on. _When did he get here?_ Mingyu thought.

The older's eyebrows quirked (he does that a lot) as he thought back, smile slowly creeping up his pretty face. "Well, like we said earlier Hao does street performances. So the poor guy was in this area in Hongdae where busking is completely off limits and he didn't know it was off limits.." he trailed off, expression on his face changing as if realizing something as he spoke the last few words then chortles. The people listening to his story looked at each other trying to figure out what's going on.  
He must have noticed as his giggles slowly comes to a stop and he wiped forming tears away.

"Sorry about that." He started, grinning. "I just.. i just realized he was going to be taken away because he's been warned before. Fucking Minghao, that greedy little bastard." Jeonghan said without real bite as he tries to stiffle another laughing fit.

Mingyu could have sworn he heard Seungcheol saying something similar to **"Language! Jesus Christ!"**

"So he really almost went to jail?" Seungkwan asked backpedalling to the topic.

Jeonghan nods his head. "Yes. So the cop already is walking him to the patrol car right? Then this guy grabbed him and they just bolted it out of there."

Mingyu saw the corner of Hoshi's mouth turn up. _When did he get here??_

"So who's this guy that rescued our Minghao?" Hoshi asked. If Mingyu didn't know any better, he'd think Hoshi is just asking out of pure innocence and concern. Mingyu shivers at how good actors his members are.

The storyteller can only shake his head. "I don't know man. All Minghao told us is he doesn't know the guy. He didn't even get to really see the guy because he was wearing a face mask. But he did say he wish he could have thanked the guy properly."

Seungcheol claps his hand to get everyone's attention. "Alright! Enough story time for now. You can all continue that later."

Mingyu threw Seungcheol a thankful look.

Hoshi glared at the leader for cutting them short but he knows the leader is right. He is always right, after all.

They were going on their fourth hour of rehearsals when the manager came in with their late lunch of jajangmyeon and fried chicken to everyone's delight. They arranged the food in the center of the room after wiping up the sweaty floor. Once the food was laid out, the group sat in a circle to enjoy the food.

"So going back to Minghao hyung almost going to jail story," Seungkwan quipped after slurping up his jajangmyeon. "That is so cool! I mean, not almost going to jail but that being rescued bit." He continued as he chews.

Mingyu chokes on his noodles. Chan, who is seated on his left hands him a bottle of water which he took gratefully but soon regrets being thankful when he saw the smirk on the younger's face.

Joshua was the one to speak up next. "Yeah. Jun almost had a heart attack when he told us what happened that night. We all did," he says in between bites of his chicken. "He's the newest member of our family and he's not from here so we tend to fuss over him more than we do over Hansol who is the actual baby of our group." He added with a teasing smile.

"Aish hyung~~" Hansol whines in embarrassment.

Jeonghan coos at the sight and ruffled Hansol's hair.

"Anyways..." Hansol doing his best to go back to the topic at hand. He is not gonna let his hyungs embarrass him further in front of the others. "So hyung came home, told us what happened, the poor guy was shaking because he barely escaped that one. He broke down after that.. but you didn't hear that from me!" Hansol's eyes widened as he realized he's said more than he probably should. Jeonghan could only shake his head.

"Just..please..whatever you hear from us..stays in this room. We've obviously said too much.." Jeonghan looks around at his team, some kind of a warning. "Minghao did not wear all those disguise so we could expose him like this to other people."

Mingyu thinks Jeonghan is talking about more than just the mask and ballcap Minghao wore that night.

Seungcheol didn't miss the indifference to the tone. "You have **nothing** to worry about." He started with a cold stare. "We care about Minghao as much as you guys even though we're pretty new to each other. Once you're with us, you're **with** us. We're a team now. We protect our own."

Jeonghan acknowledges the sentiment with a nod.

Mingyu watched the exchange closely. He felt proud of being in a team where the leader is someone like Seungcheol. He knows his other members are thinking the same when he saw the fond look in everybody's eyes. The same look can be seen on the faces of Jeonghan's members to their person in charge.

They continued lunch with a light chatter. Hoshi laying out his plans for unit and solo performances hoping to get everybody's approval. They were in the middle of exchanging ideas when the practice room door opens.

Jun walked in with Minghao following closely behind.

"Hyung!" Chan cheered. "You guys came!" Excitement not leaving the youngest's face.

Jun and Minghao both smiled at that. Mingyu's breath catches in his throat.

"Cheol, Han, Hoshi can I talk to you guys?" Jun asked as he jerks his head towards the direction where he came from.

Seungcheol was on his feet in an instant, extending his hand to help Jeonghan up.

The four left to talk. Those that remained in the room all but looked at each other, then at Minghao. Minghao could only bow his head while he sits in a corner. Jihoon, Joshua and Hansol naturally joined him in the corner.

Mingyu checks on his other members. Seokmin, Seungkwan and Chan playing flip the bottle. Wonwoo reading his book.

Mingyu's eyes then landed on the other corner of the room. He observes the small group as they talk in hushed voices. It bothers him how Jihoon would rub Minghao's shoulder, or how Jisoo would cup Minghao's face as he talks to the younger or how Hansol would just sit there next to Minghao holding his hand. What happened that they needed to comfort Minghao that way. He can only hope it wasn't that bad.

He was only brought back to the present when a deep voice spoke next to him.

"Stop staring. You're being obvious."

"I'm not staring hyung~" Mingyu pouts.

Wonwoo chuckles. "Whatever you say, loverboy."

_Oh no he didn't._

Mingyu shifts his body, eyebrows raised, smirk on his face. "You really wanna go there huh?"

The smile on Wonwoo's face dropped.

Mingyu couldn't help but laugh at that. He started to shake from laughing, bringing everybody's attention to them. Wonwoo can only smack him on the shoulder. Mingyu wipes the tears in the corner of his eyes.

"Shut up." Wonwoo said through gritted teeth.

Mingyu smirks. "You're not so subtle yourself, you know?"

Wonwoo was quiet for a few seconds. "Do you think the others noticed?" Wonwoo asked in a whisper.

Mingyu's smirk turns into a soft smile that reaches his eyes. "I don't think so. They're all too busy messing with me."

Wonwoo was about to say something when the others came back. Mingyu did not miss the way Wonwoo's mouth curl slightly when he saw Jun came in.

 _Cute_. He thought.

"Guys gather up please." Seungcheol called up.

Everybody goes to the center of the room where the leader is already seated on the floor. Mingyu finds himself sitting next to Minghao and did not the miss the way some of his members (Wonwoo, Seokmin, Seungkwan, Chan) snicker.

Mingyu could hear Seungcheol talking about an arrangement the leaders have come up with while waiting for news on Minghao's visa. He heard some of what his leader said. He tried to focus on his leader's voice but the presence next to him is making it difficult. He tries to normalize his breathing. Psyched himself up thinking _Hey. It could still all be just a coincidence. Minghao could still be not the guy from that night in Hongdae. It could be anyone that is not in this same room sitting next to me._ With that resolve, he squared up his shoulder, took a deep breath, faced the other and started a conversation just for the two of them.

"Hey. I don't think we've been formally introduced." He started. "I'm Mingyu." He said, extending his hand for a shake. Minghao, looked at him with a shy smile on his face before taking shaking his hand. "I'm Minghao."

Mingyu smiled. _See? It wasn't so bad._ He tells himself. With a surge of confidence, Mingyu went on. "Ni hao." Minghao's smile turned brighter. "Ni hao." He replies. "Ni Hao" Mingyu repeats, this time emphasizing the second syllable. "Get it? Ni **HAO**?" Pointing his finger to the Chinese guy. Minghao blinks. Once. Twice. Mingyu panicked. Then it happened.

The seal to Mingyu's envelope.

The cherry on top of his ice cream.

  
The nail to his coffin.

The very thing that put all of Mingyu's doubts to rest.

Minghao's lips stretched to a wide smile, then he let out the **fucking** giggle.


	4. Dejavu?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not very happy about this chapter tbh. Hopefully its not too bad. I have the next chapter figured out so maybe you could at least look forward to that?
> 
> Thank you to anybody who's reading this. I appreciate you all so much! 
> 
> Please leave a kudos/comment or scream at me on twt if you like this so far so I know if people are actually reading this? 😅

"Ni Hao" Chan mocks to his hyungs delight. Well, except Mingyu. They're having dinner in their dorm and the guys won't stop laughing at his expense. "It's not even that funny." Mingyu mumbles under his breath, face so red and just about ready to burst.

Hoshi's still laughing so hard he's clutching his stomach, his kimbap sitting forgotten in front of him. "Ouch.. my stomach hurts..stop it! " he started wiping his eyes with a piece of greasy napkin, Wonwoo scrunches his face in disgust.

"But Minghao hyung thinks its funny!" Seungkwan says as he tries to calm himself down. "I c-can't.." Seungkwan continues as he catches his breath "I can't believe you did that! Stop embarrassing yourself in front of your crush!" Chan slaps Seokmin's shoulder and another round of laughing fit ensues.

Mingyu looks over his leader hoping he'd save him again this time too, only to be met by a gummy laugh of the leader's own. _Traitor_.

Mingyu's done being laughed at. At least for tonight (with his clumsiness, another episode like this is inevitable). He stood up, clears his spot on the table and went to his shared room with Seungcheol to prepare for shower.

 _Nice going Gyu_. He scolds himself.

He didn't think everybody would hear it. It's just his luck that everything just fell silent by the time he tries his joke again. Even the T Studio guys were laughing at him for some time. He'd hope the members would get over it soon but of course, the world hates him and they think it's the funniest thing they've ever heard from him, not to mention the whole situation when he made that stupid pun! He embarrassed himself in front of the guy who he just was able to confirm to be the guy he's been looking for all those time.

Speaking of the guy- Mingyu smiles to himself as he remembers how Minghao smiled. How he _giggled_. How he had to cover his own face from laughing so hard even if it is at his expense.

"I don't remember the last time I laughed this hard." He'd told him, leaning against his shoulder for support.

 **Minghao**. _I guess its not so bad if it made him laugh._ He tells himself.

A few knocks on the door brings him out of his dreamy stupor. The door opened and Seungcheol's head popped in.

"Hey. You done sulking yet?" The leader asked.

Mingyu pouts. "I'm not talking to any of you." He answers as he grabs his pajamas.

Seungcheol clicks his tongue and walked to his side of the room. "You can't be mad at me! I was laughing at them!" Seungcheol whines pointing at the blank wall towards where their other members are.

Mingyu rolled his eyes. "Right." He mumbles, hand wrapping around the doorknob. "Imma take a shower." And he's gone.

He knows that Seungcheol knows that he can't really be mad at any of them but like he said, he's _sulking_ and he will take his time.

Mingyu has another solo schedule today. He's doing a magazine shoot. It's honestly one of the few things he actually enjoys outside performing as SVN. Mingyu's always been interested in fashion and he likes getting dolled up for shoots. It makes him feel special but he will die before he admits that to anyone, including his own group.

Mingyu is dressed in an olive suit pants hugging his legs just right and a black silk shirt with the few top buttons undone, revealing his smooth collarbones. Classic tan oxfords on his feet. He posted a mirror selfie on his group's IG account, caption only a single fire emoji. It didn't take long before fans started flooding the post with comments and likes.

Mingyu's sitting in his waiting room when his phone rang.

"What now?" He answers when he saw who's calling. He's still feeling a little salty from last night's teasing.

Chan whines on the other line. "Ah hyung~~ you can't stay mad at me! You didn't even say goodbye when you left!"

"What do you need Chan?" He asks again, doing his best to sound stern. Mingyu hears Chan mumble something to someone then a different voice came on the line.

"Chan wanted to ask if you'll join us for dinner." It was Wonwoo. "Stop wounding the child, man." He added.

Mingyu only smirks. "I'm not sure what time I'll be done here though. I'll call you guys up to let you know?" Wonwoo hums in acknowledgement.

"How's things there? We saw your post man. You're looking great. Even Minghao thinks so."

Mingyu chokes on air. "W-what do you mean? Hh-how did you know? D-dddid h-he tell you h-he liked it?" Wonwoo lets out a low chuckle.

"Chan was playing cupid and showed them your post."

Mingyu screeched. Must it be this way? It's either he embarrass himself in front of the guy or his members do it for him?

Mingyu was about to ask for Chan when his waiting room door opened.

"We're starting the shoot Mingyu." Hi manager announced. Mingyu nods to his manager then told Wonwoo he'll talk to him later.

Six long hours, 8 wardrobe and make up change later, Mingyu's done for the day. He bows to everybody, told them they all did a great job before he's escorted back to his waiting room. He removes his own make up and changes into a more comfy clothes and trainers. He whips his phone out of his pocket and calls Chan.

"Oh hyung?" The maknae answers.

"Dinner?" Mingyu asks.

"Yes hyung. We're at that bbq place we often go to. We just got here."

"Okay. Save me a seat. We're leaving."

"Hyung~~" Mingyu smiles. He can easily imagine Chan pouting for forgiveness.

"Love you." is all Mingyu says before he hung up. That should be enough.

Mingyu shakes one leg impatiently. He's been sitting in the car for almost an hour, nowhere near where he should be. Eyes focused on the traffic in front of him.

His manager throws him a concerned look. "Maybe you should call them? Let them know you'll be coming late?" He offers. Mingyu sighs a sigh of defeat, pulling out his phone from his backpack.

"You're right hyung. I shouldn't make them wait."

"Hyung" an excited Chan answers.

"Channie. I don't think I can make it. We're stuck in traffic and we're still far out. Don't wait up."

"Really?" Mingyu could hear the disappointment in the younger's voice. "Like, how far out?"

Mingyu hums and puts the phone on speaker so the manager can hear everything.

"Chan is asking how far out we are," Mingyu tells the manager.

"Without traffic, 45 minutes. I don't know how bad this traffic is though. Maps not really saying anything about the cause of traffic." Mingyu hears Chan sigh on the other line.

"If you can't make it here then just make sure you guys grab dinner before coming home" says Seungcheol. Chan must also have put them on speaker.

"Yes hyung. Don't worry about us. Just enjoy your dinner and we'll do the same. See you at home." Mingyu reassures.

"Okay. Take care! See you at home." Click.

An hour and a half later, they finally made it back to Seoul. They stopped by a family restaurant where Mingyu had dinner with the manager. Mingyu was so hungry he finished a big bowl of seafood noodles and 2 cups of rice by himself. He felt guilty for eating so much that he told his manager he's gonna walk the rest of the way home. His manager argued that it's not a good idea. Mingyu only has a face mask on and that is barely enough for a disguise.

As a compromise, the manager offered to walk with Mingyu for an hour max then drive him home. Mingyu was grateful. They ended up walking on a busy busking street and nobody can blame Mingyu if he all of a sudden remembers a certain Chinese boy. His manager got busy on the phone talking to someone about " _the boys' supplies_ " so there really isn't much to do but think. He remembers how he grabbed Minghao's wrist that night. How incredibly small it felt against his big hand. How they were both panting when they stopped running. How they started laughing. How he found himself spending more time searching youtube during his free time than calling his own mother. How just a few days ago he met Minghao and how just last night found out that he was who he's been searching for.

He smiles to himself, at the ridiculousness of it all.

He felt his manager grab his sleeve, pulling him back. He gave his manager a questioning look. The manager jerks his head over to a crowd where there seems to be bit of a commotion and realized his manager is stirring him away from it.

He was compliant until he heard a familiar voice. He whips his head, his feet on autopilot. He walks to the crowd despite his manager pulling him back.

Some drunk college kid has a small body pinned on the ground. Some spectators trying to pull him off the poor guy but the drunk man is throwing a fit.

 _"I jush wanna sshee hish fashe_ " the drunk college kid slurs.

 _"Leave him alone!"_ Calls out one girl from the crowd.

 _"I will call the police!"_ A young man warns.

A couple of guys tries to pull the drunk guy off the kid again to no avail.

"Please. Get off me." The voice pleads. Mingyu strides over to the center of the crowd, his 6'2" body towering over everybody else, grabs the drunk guy by the collar and yanks him off **_Minghao_**. His manager couldn't do anything but ask the crowd to stand back. Mingyu pulls Minghao up to his feet and pulls him away from the crowd for the second time without looking back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> @haoships on twt


	5. Whipped Culture

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mingyu is whipped.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's a chapter of 2k plus words of Mingyu being whipped.
> 
> Thanks for waiting!
> 
> ☆☆☆  
> The usual  
> ☆☆☆

Mingyu is _seething_. He is so mad he could punch a wall. His head is filled with so much bad things he wants to do to that drunkard that he didn't realize how tight his grip on Minghao's wrist was. Or how the other boy is barely able to keep up with his steps.

"Y-you're hurting me." a tentative voice cut through his enraged thoughts.

As if suddenly realizing what he's doing, Mingyu slows down and pulls Minghao towards the back alley of a convenience store.

Mingyu gently lets go Minghao's wrist who then brings it up to his chest to massage it.

They were quiet for a while. Mingyu notices Minghao trying to assess him through his eyelashes.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you." Mingyu starts, guilt clear in his voice.

Mingyu could tell Minghao smiled. Minghao's eye smile is the most beautiful he's seen.

"It's okay. I know you didn't mean to. You did save me out there. Thank you." Minghao answers with a gentle voice.

Mingyu, feeling shy all of a sudden didn't know what to say or do. He shuffles on his feet, plays with the hem of his shirt, picks on his nails while glancing at the boy standing in front of him when he thinks the other isn't looking. Minghao doesn't fare any better. He contemplates if he should tell Minghao who he is.

Mingyu pockets his hand and looks at Minghao who is already looking at him. Minghao squints his eyes before he speaks again, just barely a whisper. "It's you."

Mingyu scrunches his eyebrows, not sure what he meant.

"Y-you.. you were that.. t-the guy that h-helped me that night too..w-wwith the p-police" he stuttered.

Mingyu's eyes grew rounder. He didn't think Minghao would recognize him. Well, at least as the guy who helped him out the last time.

He was about to speak up when his phone rings. Mingyu takes it out of his pocket, he sees his manager's name. He cancels the call, puts it back in his pocket and sees Minghao studying his every move. Mingyu clears his throat.

"Uhm. Do you uh.. do you need a ride home?" He asks, keeping his head low.

Minghao shuffles on the balls of his feet. He pockets his own hands and settles on shaking his head.

"I'll be fine. I live close by anyway. I don't wanna bother you any more than I already have."

Mingyu just shakes his head and smiles. "Please don't say that. I'm glad I was around when you needed help." He answers hoping the other could feel the sincerity in his words.

Minghao smiles. God! Mingyu has never wanted anything more than to just take off Minghao's mask so he could see that beautiful smile that's hiding behind it.

"I insist. Let me drive you home. Make sure you're safe." Mingyu pleads with his eyes.

Minghao looks at him carefully, perhaps assessing what the wise decision is when he feels his phone vibrating in his jeans pocket. Mingyu watches him as he reads the message and placed the phone back in his pocket.

"Thanks for the offer. But my friend is on his way to pick me up. Maybe next time." Minghao starts to walk backwards.

Mingyu smiles at that. "Sure. Take care, yes?"

Minghao nods enthusiastically, eyesmile on display. "Hopefully the next time we meet will be under better circumstances." Minghao lets out a light giggle before walking out to the main street. Mingyu watches Minghao for the second time leave.

It wasn't until the other was already out of sight that his brain short circuits and took long strides to where Minghao walked off too.

_You're stupid Kim Mingyu! Why did you let him go just like that? What if that freak is still waiting for him somewhere?_

His head is filled with all these thoughts as he walked past strangers giving him weird looks. He's frantically looking around until he spots the familiar lanky figure not too far away, heading inside a convenience store with Junhui. He breathes a sigh of relief and took a seat on the bench just behind him. He keeps his head down as he sends his manager a text letting him know where to find him.

Mingyu didn't have a wink's sleep last night. His brain was on overdrive. He kept tossing and turning in his bed Seungcheol threw him a pillow when he was woken from his sleep from all the fuss.

He's currently nursing a cup of coffee, a spread of simple breakfast in front of him at 7 am, dressed up and ready to leave for the company at any time.

"Mingyu?" A sleepy deep voice called to him. He looks up to see Wonwoo, hair tossed out in all directions, leaning against the doorframe of his room. "What are you doing up so early?"

"I couldn't sleep." was all Mingyu has for an answer.

The older walks up to the sink for a glass of water and did not say anything until he's downed it.

"Wanna talk about it?" Wonwoo asks, sitting next to Mingyu, his own cup of coffee on hand.

Mingyu turns to his friend and just looks at him without saying anything. Wonwoo raised an eyebrow. "Nobody's making you say anything. I just thought you wanna.."

"Hyung how do you know if you like someone?"

Wonwoo blinks. He was _not_ expecting that.

"Minghao?"

Mingyu nods his head, pouting.

"But..you already know you like him?"

"I don't really know what I know now anymore."

"Dude I just woke up stop confusing me."

Mingyu groans. Wonwoo takes a sip of his coffee before proceeding.

"I think the fact that you literally lost sleep over him says a lot." He says matter of factly.

"But.. I.." Mingyu scrunches his eyebrows, thinking. Wonwoo waits on him patiently.

"Let me rephrase my question. How do you know if you _just_ like someone?"

"What are you talking about?" Wonwoo is now genuinely confused.

"..."

"Do you think you're in love with him?" Mingyu'e eyes grew wide at that it was comical Wonwoo wanted to laugh.

"Hyung! You don't think I'm.."

"I don't know what other implications that has?" Wonwoo cuts him off.

"I just think I like him _very_ much!"

Wonwoo laughs at him. Mingyu just pouts and crossed his arms across his chest.

"So what happened that you think you like him _very_ much now?" Mingyu did not miss the mocking tone in his friend's voice.

Mingyu brings his hand to his cup and takes sip before answering.

"Last night happened."

It's Wonwoo's turn to cross his arms across his chest now. He waits for the younger to continue.

"So we were walking downtown last night after dinner..me and manager hyung..then there was a commotion and we were gonna walk away but I heard _him_ asking for help.." Mingyu rambles, only stopping to take a breath.

"Then I don't know what happened next. I just _knew_ it was him and I saw this guy have him pinned down on the ground and I think I saw white..is that the right expression? I saw white like I got so mad I don't know why I even reacted that way. I may have pulled the guy off him harder than I intended and I grabbed him and I took him away.." he trailed off.

"First of all.. it's _black_ ” Wonwoo started. “you saw _black_. Then what?" He encourages the younger to continue.

Mingyu sighs. "I took him to a back alley and I don't know..we were just there.."

"Well.. isn't that good? I mean, you know him, he knows you, you helped him out, I don't know why this seems to be stressing you out? He must think you're some kind of a hero now." Wonwoo tries to cheer him up. 

Mingyu shakes his head. "I don't think he recognized me."

"What do you mean?" Wonwoo is genuinely confused.

"Well.. he did recognize me as the guy who helped him with the police the other time but he doesn't know it's me." 

Wonwoo's jaw dropped.

"I had a mask on last night and it was pretty dark in the back alley..." he offers as an excuse.

"And you _didn't_ think to tell him who you are?" Wonwoo asked incredulously.

Mingyu smiled sheepishly. 

Wonwoo tsked shaking his head. "I can't believe I'm friends with you."

Mingyu felt scandalized. "Then what about you? I don't see you doing anything about your own crush situation." Mingyu challenges.

Wonwoo tensed as he whips his head around to check if anybody heard. Mingyu laughed at him. 

"I swear to all things holy if this gets out I'm disowning you!" Wonwoo warns without real bite in his tone.

Mingyu continues to chuckle when Wonwoo smacks him lightly at the back of his head.

"But seriously Gyu, why didn't you just tell him? I'm sure you had a chance to." Wonwoo stirs back to the topic on hand.

Mingyu thought about it. Why didn't I tell him when I had the chance? It can't result to anything bad, right? 

"I don't know? I think.. this whole anonymity kinda excites me?"

Wonwoo whistles. "I didn't know you're into that." 

Mingyu rolled his eyes. "Oh come on! You know what I mean!"

It's Wonwoo's turn to chuckle now, scrunching his nose as he does so. 

"Why am I even talking to you?" Mingyu pouts.

Wonwoo places his hand over his chest faking hurt. "You don't mean that."

Mingyu sighs. "No I don't but help me out here?"

Wonwoo thinks about it. 

"I don't know man.. maybe.. you'll really know if you really like him when he finds out it was you and you're still excited about it? I mean.. I think I get what you mean.. maybe that's why I'm not really doing anything about this whole crush thing too. Sometimes it's nice just admiring things from afar.. you just don't know what to expect if you get too close." 

Mingyu looks at his friend as if he just said something clever. But then again, maybe he did.

\--

Mingyu was disappointed Minghao is not around today. He was looking forward to seeing the Chinese male. Has been looking forward to it since his last encounter with him downtown. 

Seungcheol noticed the shift in the big puppy's mood when they were told Minghao can't join them today.

Now that he thinks about it, they've never been in the same room long enough (well, except on the first day they met the guy and Minghao completely ignored him and he had a semi-permanent scowl plastered on his face) for Minghao to recognize him last night. It's always either Mingyu has solo schedules or Minghao needing to do something to fix his visa. 

"Hey, how about dinner after this? All of us!" Seuncheol calls out as he was putting his phone back in his bag. They're currently taking a break from all the dancing, their last break for the night.

Junhui looks at his members, probably working on their telepathy and nods after a few beats.

"That would be great! You guys treating us or something?" He teases.

Seungcheol takes out his wallet and pulled a black card out. 

"The company's treat." He grins. "Call Minghao and tell him to meet us for dinner! We can't leave him out."

Mingyu doesn't miss the way his leader looked at him as if he's done something Mingyu can be proud of. Mingyu humors him with a grateful smile. 

  
Minghao arrived shortly at the restaurant after they settled down. He doesn't know how it happened (or maybe he does- he's pretty sure it took some meticulous planning by his members) but he finds himself seated next to the guy. They're seated in a way that they were all mixed up. Seungcheol was seated at the end of the table with Junhui and Jeonghan on each side. Mingyu is sandwiched between Chan and Hoshi. Chan stood up and sat on the only other vacant seat when he saw Minghao come in which leaves Minghao with no choice but to sit on the very recently vacated chair, next to Mingyu. He hears a snort on the other end of the table which he's pretty sure came from Seungkwan.

Chan chatters Minghao up as soon as he arrived, giving Mingyu the perfect chance to really look at him, to really take him in.

How Minghao's eyes would go wide when Chan tells him something amusing. How his voice softens even more when he feels embarrassed about not understanding a certain word. How he would cutely repeat the word he just learned to see how easy it will roll off his tongue. He notices the cute little dimples that would appear on the hallow of his cheeks when he grins. How he would occasionally stick the tip of his tongue out unconsciously when he thinks. He notices Minghao’s pointy ears. How the little infinity earring dangles on his left earlobe while he only has a simple stud on the right. How he's swimming in his sweater and still looks so good in it. How the rips on his pants are all the way up to his thigh despite the cool October breeze. All of a sudden he is hyper aware of everything Minghao.

He feels a kick under the table and sees Wonwoo glaring at him. The older took his phone up to type something. Mingyu feels his phone vibrate in his own pocket.

 _You're creepy staring_. Wonwoo's text says.

 _Whipped_. Came in after that. 

  
Mingyu feels his blood rush to his face. How long was he staring? Did anybody else notice?

Mingyu feels a little tap on his shoulder. He looked to his side and saw Minghao smiling at him.

“Are you feeling okay Mingyu-shi? Your face is red.” Minghao sked so sweetly he feels he’s head is going to burst.

 _This is going to be a long night_ , he thinks.


	6. The Cat's Out Of The Bag

“Are you feeling okay Mingyu-shi? Your face is red.”

Mingyu blinks a few times before he found his voice.

"Uhhhhhh...huh..uhuh.." he gulps, nodding his head 100 miles/hr. "I-I uhh.. I mean.. I'm o-okay." _Mingyu you fucking clown._

Wonwoo snickers on the other side of the table at Mingyu's awkwardness. They've been friends for so long but this is the first time he's seeing his very tall friend act so adorably cute around anyone. Maybe Mingyu does like Minghao that much.

Mingyu clears his throat. "I'm okay. Just..tired, I guess."

Minghao smiles sympathetically at him. "Must be hard living the lives you guys do."

Mingyu smiles back, canine on display. "You get used to it."

Mingyu's eyes linger a little longer on the boy next to him. Minghao slightly scrunched his eyebrows the same time the corner of his lips turn up. "What?" He asked smiling.

Mingyu gently smiles back and shook his head, turning his eyes away. "Nothing." He answers bashfully. There's no helping the blush on his face.

Conversation was easy for them after that. They found out they have similarities in just about anything. They both like fashion and arts (they promised to show each other some of their works one of these days). They both prefer to drink wine than any other alcoholic drinks (they agreed they'd share a glass or two some time). They're both into eating healthy so they prefer home cooked meals than fast food (Mingyu invited Minghao and his team for a home cooked meal when this is all over). They have basically unintentionally ignored everyone around them at this point. It was just them talking and laughing whenever Mingyu does his stupid jokes.

They have been so engrossed in their own little bubble that they didn't realize how close they are leaning towards each other (Minghao has his chin resting on his right hand, elbow perched on the table while Mingyu has both his elbows resting on his knees) until Chan clears his throat beside Minghao.

"You guys are not gonna kiss, are you?"

Minghao turns around so fast his elbow slides off the table grazing the skin there. He winced when it draws pain. Mingyu's eyes widened dramatically, worry lines his face.

"Are you okay?" Mingyu asks as he gently takes Minghao's arm to inspect his elbow. Mingyu's face flooded with concern when he saw blood starts to form a little.

"I'm okay. It doesn't hurt that much. I just think I got a splinter." Minghao tries to take his arm back but Mingyu's grip was firm.

Mingyu reaches for his bag and struggles to take the wet tissue out with one hand. He smiles smugly when he managed to do so. Mingyu did not miss the smile on Minghao’s lips and he felt so good knowing that he _did_ that.

Mingyu carefully wipes away what little blood has formed on Minghao’s elbow and lets out a sigh of relief when he saw the splinter come off. Mingyu pulls out a plain band aid from the side pocket of his bag and carefully places it on Minghao’s elbow.

Junhui walks the little distance where Minghao sits and said something to him in Chinese.

Mingyu watches the exchange and wished he could understand what they were talking about.

He feels heat spread across his face when Junhui glanced at him sideways, eyeing the arm he's holding.

He realizes he's been holding onto it longer than he should.

"You should have that cleaned properly when you get home. We don't want you getting infection or something." Mingyu says softly, releasing Minghao's arm regretfully.

"We will. Don't worry." Junhui flashes him a grateful smile. The same smile on Minghao's face.

It didn't take long before they called it a night. It's getting late and they all have to be well rested for tomorrow's activities (more rehearsals).

Mingyu is sitting with Hoshi at the back of the van heading home but he wasn't paying attention to what Hoshi was going on about. He hears his members laughing but he was too deep into his thoughts to care about anything else.

He can't stop thinking about Minghao. His smile. His voice. His giggles. The way he brushes his hair up with his hands and shakes his head a little so his fringe would fall the right way. How it was so easy to talk to the Chinese guy. How he wants to see him again and soon!

He feels a light nudge on his side and looks to see Hoshi smiling at him.

"What are you thinking about?” He asks.

Mingyu blushes. He only smiles and looked back out the window without answering.

"I heard through the grapevine that Minghao got rescued again last night. You know anything about that?"

Mingyu stiffens a bit. He's only told Wonwoo about it and he knows Wonwoo will never betray him like that.

"Does this grapevine have a name?" Mingyu asks still not meeting Hoshi's eyes.

Hoshi chuckles lightly. "Wen Junhui."

To say Mingyu is surprised is an understatement. He feels his face heat up for the hundredth time today when realization hits him. _Minghao's been talking about him._

Hoshi smiles to himself when he didn't get any answers. He doesn't need to be told the story twice after all.

Mingyu's smile grew wide when Minghao walks in the practice room with his gym bag. He's already dressed in a white loose shirt and gray sweatpants, a red snapback on his head.

 _Hot_. 

"Hey Minghao!” he greets the newcomer, a new brand of excitement coursing through his veins. “How's your elbow?" He asks as Minghao sits beside him. He could die _happy_ right now.

"It's okay. We cleaned it up when we got home like you said." Minghao smiles at him.

It's way too early to have his heart beating this fast. He doesn't think he'll survive the day if this goes on.

He feels a wide grin trying to escape his lips when he saw a cute Kermit band aid on Minghao's elbow and _damn_ it took everything in him not to squeal.

Rehearsals pass by in a blur. Mingyu thanks his muscle memory as it only failed him a few times today. His eyes would automatically dart out to Minghao's direction in the mirror and it's like being under a spell.

He's seen Minghao dance of course! But this is the first time he's seeing him dance without his face mask on, and knowing for sure that he is the same masked guy he was looking for.

The stampede of butterflies in his stomach is becoming a little bit unbearable with all these thoughts and how he wished there's something he could do about it.

Seungcheol announced it's time to go home after 12 long hours in the practice room. Everyone's beat but there's a certain glow on their faces knowing today has been a really productive day. They managed not to only polish the group choreography but they also got to do so much about their solo and unit stages. Today was a great day!

Mingyu waits for Minghao as he finish packing up his stuff. Everybody else has already made their way to the exit.

They have small talk as they walk behind the others, taking their time. They were walking down the few steps to the main street when it happened.

Mingyu was a couple of steps ahead of Minghao when Minghao yelps. Mingyu turned around just in time to catch the falling guy in his arms.

Mingyu's heart raced at the thought of something bad happening to Minghao and worry is a very mild word to explain how Mingyu felt at the time. He was _scared_.

"Are you okay??" he asks, worry lines on his forehead, eyes searching, hands tight on Minghao's shoulders.

Minghao blinks so fast as he looks at Mingyu he thought he'd need to call for an ambulance.

When Minghao got his footing back, he pushed Mingyu lightly, creating a distance between them.

Minghao swallows on nothing as he stares at the guy in front of him.

"It's _you_." he whispers.


	7. Minghao Has a Say In This Too

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's a 2k+ words chapter update as seen from Minghao's perspective. 
> 
> HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO OUR RESIDENT BEANPOLE PUPPY BEST BOY KIM MINGYU! HE IS SO LOVED 🎈🎉🎁🎂🐶🐶🐶

Tonight's dinner invite with SVN was a rather pleasant surprise. He knew the guys were nice especially Chan who seem to take a real liking on him but Minghao is naturally an introvert. He didn't expect to be invited to dinner or anything at all since he was gone the whole day trying to sort things out with his visa with the help of Junhui's aunt. Junhui offered to help him today too but Minghao begged him to _please just go to the rehearsals I can do this on my own._

He came to the restaurant not knowing what to expect but as soon as Chan spotted him, the grin on Chan's face was enough to put him at ease.

Chan is very entertaining and he seemed to be genuinely interested in everything Minghao says. He's just answering Chan's questions after all. He asked about a lot of stuff. What his interests are? Where did he learn bboy? Is it hard? Do you think its too late for me to learn that?

At some point during dinner, Chan became too preoccupied stuffing his face.

 _Cute_. Minghao thinks.

He was eating from his own plate when he chances to glance upon Mingyu who was staring at his phone. He noticed Mingyu's face is abnormally red so he thought he would check on him.

He taps Mingyu's shoulder and once Mingyu's looking asks "Are you okay Mingyu-shi? Your face is red." He thinks it was cute when Mingyu stuttered a bit.

He finds Mingyu interesting. There's something oddly familiar and comfortable about him that Minghao finds weird because he doesn't normally feel that way with anyone. Normally, he's an aloof guy. Awkward. Would rather keep to himself but there's just something. He chalks it up to belonging to the group in general. SVN has been nothing but nice and accommodating to their group that maybe it's normal to feel this way about everybody in the group. Despite having very few encounters with Mingyu compared to the rest of the guys.

He finds himself chatting comfortably with him and he finally understands why they call him a big puppy. He pouts. He acts cute despite how big he is. He's clumsy. He's cute.

Minghao didnt realize how close they are to each other until Chan pointed it out. He jolted back from leaning over and scratches his elbow on the surface of the table. He winced when he felt pain and was surprised when Mingyu's forehead creased with concern. Mingyu gently took his arm and inspected. He took it upon himself to clean it with wet wipes for now and Minghao couldn’t help the smile that blossomed on his face. For some reason, having someone worrying over him that is not his group of friends felt satisfying. It's like he matters.

"Xiao Hao you okay?" Junhui asked in Chinese as he walked over to where he's sitting.

"Just a splinter ğe." Minghao smiled at the older. "No worries."

Junhui smiled. "I'm not. He has that department covered." Junhui teased as he glaced over at Mingyu still holding his arm.

Minghao willed the blush threatening to dance on his face away.

All of a sudden he was reminded of that guy that has saved him twice and wonders if he'll ever see him again.

Minghao woke up early the next day. With the visa problem temporarily out of the way, he felt light. Not to mention today he gets to spend time with his new found friends doing the thing he loved the most. Dance.

Mingyu was the first to greet him. He matched the smile on Mingyu's face when he sat next to the big puppy. It warmed his heart when Mingyu asked about his elbow. He didn't think it was that big of a deal but for Mingyu to still ask about it felt nice.

It didn't take long before everybody took their own space in the room to stretch. They will need it especially him since he didn't do any dancing yesterday.

Minghao loves the adrenaline he gets from dancing. He loves it when he feels his heart beats wildly against his chest. It makes him feel alive.

Everybody in the room knows that it takes hours, days, even months of practice to perfect a choreography. It's easy for Minghao to learn choreographies because he's been dancing for years even before he came to Korea. He left China to pursue a dream that seemed more attainable if he's in a place where talent is celebrated and not everything is about business.

It was hard at first. Not knowing anybody in a foreign place. Meeting Junhui and his crew was the best thing that has happened to him here. And that was only proven even more when the whole visa situation happened. He can't believe that these guys who started as strangers to him would have his back like this. And now there are seven more he can add to his roster of people he calls friends.

After hours and hours of practice and perfecting the choreographies, they called it a night. They were just about to step out to the main street when he trips and lost his balance. He braced himself for impact that did not come. When he opens his eyes he was met with a pair of eyes he's seen before. A couple of times before.

Memories from the past flashed back. How he was pulled from the hands of the police. How he was pulled off the ground when he cried out for help. Those eyes. There's _no_ mistaking it. Those eyes belongs to **KIM MINGYU**.

Minghao pushed Mingyu lightly and stepped back when he found his balance. He can't believe it. The guy he's been thinking about for a few weeks now is there right in front of him. He wonders if Mingyu knows what he's done for him. He wonders if Mingyu ever looked for him too. Wonders if he should tell him what he now knows.

He surprises himself when the words escaped his lips.

"It's you."

"Are you okay?" Mingyu said at the same time, eyes wide with concern. It doesn't seem like Mingyu heard what he said. He sees Mingyu try to reach out again but he stepped back a little.

Minghao didn't know what to do with this new discovery now. He's played all kinds of scenarios in his head should this day come but none of those prepared him enough for this reality.

"Haohao are you coming?" Junhui called in Chinese. Minghao blinks and looked away from the guy in front of him with a now awkward smile.

"Yes ğe." He answers.

He steps back and gave Mingyu a polite little nod before he jogs his way to his waiting friends.

Minghao finds himself the next day trying to avoid Mingyu. He stayed mostly by his team's side whenever there is a lull in practice.

Mingyu asked if he's feeling okay and he can only come up with a generic excuse. _I'm not really feeling hot today_.

He felt bad when he sees a pout in Chan's lips because he knows he has to try and ignore everyone if he doesn't want Mingyu to catch on the truth. That he is only avoiding him.

It didn't take long before his own teammates caught on his act.

"Hao what's going on?" Minghao tenses when Jeonghan spoke up.

They were all just getting settled back at home after a long day of practice. Minghao looks up and sees everybody giving him a worried look.

Minghao gulps on nothing.

"N-nothing."

An audible sigh escapes their leader's lips.

"I knew you were gonna say that." Minghao looked at him, guilt flashing like neon lights on his face.

"And I know you know we don't buy that shit. So you better spill." Minghao looks around the room assessing his situation.

He sees Joshua and Jeonghan stand from the corner of his eyes.

"We should let you guys talk." Jeonghan offers.

Minghao was thankful and feeling guilty at the same time. He knows he can trust his hyungs but he doesn't know where to start should he tell them what's been bothering him.

One by one his friends have gone to their rooms until it's just him and Junhui.

"Wanna tell me what's going on now?" Junhui said in Chinese.

Minghao offered a timid smile. He knows Junhui is not speaking in their mother tongue to make sure nobody understands anything, he's doing it because he knows this is the only way Minghao will get to say and express whatever it is he willing to share.

Minghao takes a deep breath before he speaks.

"Ğe, I think I know who he is."

Junhui's eyebrows scrunched not understanding what the younger meant exactly.

After another deep breath, Minghao goes on.

"The..the guy who helped me out twice.. I think I found him..."

Junhui's eyes expanded in surprise, his mouth agape. It would be funny had this been a different time.

"Y-yyou did??" Junhui managed to ask.

Minghao nods his head.

"Well? Who is it? Where did you meet him again? H-how?"

Minghao gnaws on his lower lip looking at Junhui through his lashes.

Well, here goes nothing.

"Mingyu."

Junhui gawks.

"..."

"..."

"Wow. W-who would have thought." Junhui says when he recovered from his shock.

"Are you sure it's him?" He asks again.

Minghao nods again. "I'm sure ğe. There's no way I'm wrong on this..." he trails off thinking.

"Like..100% sure?" The older asks.

Minghao thinks back on it. When he first met the stranger. His hand on his wrist as he pulls him away from the cops. How the corner of his eyes crinkled when they burst out laughing. He thinks back on the night he pulled the drunk guy off him. How his eyes were a mixture of anger and scared and relieved. How last night he saw that familiar concern in Mingyu's eyes when he scraped his elbow. How his eyes showed the same mixture of scared and relief when he caught him in his arms. There is no denying it. _Those people are one and the same._

Minghao looks straight into Junhui's eyes still waiting for an answer.

"I've never been this sure about anything else."

All these new discoveries are messing up with Minghao's head. Honestly, he doesn't know why he's making a big deal out of it. It doesn't seem to him like Mingyu's aware of what he knows if all these normalcy Mingyu is showing is anything to go by. But then again, why should it matter? To any of them. A good Samaritan helping out a complete stranger is not unheard of. In fact, it's something that should be celebrated but here he is acting like the guy has some disgusting skin disease or something.

Minghao is refilling his water bottle when he felt a tap on his shoulder. He turns his head and steps back when he sees Mingyu.

Minghao did not miss the flash of hurt in the other's eyes.

"Are you okay?" Mingyu asks.

Minghao feels his hand tremble as he tries to put the cap back on the bottle.

Mingyu notices how Minghao's struggling so he slowly reaches out like how one would a scared animal, and takes the bottle and cap from Minghao's hand.

He eyes Minghao as he twists the cap back on and smiles as he handed the bottle back to Minghao.

"T-thanks." was all Minghao managed to say before he turns his back and walked back to the practice room.

Minghao was just getting ready for bed when he heard a single knock on his door. **Jeonghan**.

"Come in hyung." He calls out.

Jeonghan poked his head in playfully before walking in. He pulls Minghao's covers and joins him in bed. The older pulls Minghao towards him and Minghao automatically rests his head on his shoulder.

Jeonghan did not say anything until he started running his fingers through Minghao's hair. Minghao hums in content.

"Haohao"

"Hmm?"

"Is everything okay?"

Minghao tenses a little. 'Why do you ask hyung?"

"Hmm.." Jeonghan thinks as he continues combing through Minghao's hair. "You know hyung's here too right?"

Minghao nods and wrapped his arm on his hyung's waist.

"Good."

"Hyung"

"Hmm?"

"..."

Jeonghan places a light kiss on the top of Minghao's head. "Tell me when you're ready?"

Minghao sits up and leans on the headboard looking at Jeonghan, contemplating if this is the right time.

He watches as Jeonghan follows his lead and take his hand in his.

"Is this about Mingyu?"

If Minghao thinks he did a decent job hiding this from Jeonghan then he's a complete _idiot_.

Jeonghan chuckles lightly when Minghao blushed like a tomato.

"You like him? Is that why you're avoiding him?"

_Wait. What? Hold up!_

Minghao's eyes grew comically wide at the accusation.

"N-no.. I don't?"

Jeonghan smirks. "Are you asking or are you telling?"

Minghao is confused.

Who said anything about liking anyone?

"Aigoo.. my baby's all grown up." Jeonghan teases wrapping Minghao in his arms. Pulling him back down to lie.

They stay like that until Minghao feels Jeonghan's breath evens and that's only when he drifted off to sleep.

Minghao was in a real surprise the next day when he finds himself in a small room with Mingyu, looking as confused as he is.

 _What now?_ He thinks.


	8. Let's Not Believe That First Love Never Comes True

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is it.
> 
> Chapter title taken from a verse in Aju Nice

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the last for this AU. 
> 
> I'm a little sad I'm saying goodbye to this baby but I really hope you enjoyed this journey. I had so much fun making this and I hope I was able to share a bit of happiness through this dark quarantine period. 
> 
> This whole quarantine situation made me do stuff i never dreamed of doing (i.e. writing) but here i am and i can only hope what I did here isnt so bad. Hoping this brought even tiny smiles on your faces. I can't thank you enough for putting up with this 😍😍😍
> 
> Sorry for any mistakes or inconsistencies

He sits in the corner silently watching the skillful dancer teach Dino how to do some finger dance. Dino's been fascinated since the first time Minghao showed it to him during dinner and had asked to teach him since.

It's been days. Eight, to be exact. And it's been six days since Minghao started avoiding him.

Mingyu didn't know what happened. Or if he did something. All he knows is they were okay the day after dinner then it all went downhill the day after that.

Minghao came in and was quiet and practically glued himself to his members. When Mingyu asked if he was okay he was answered with the "I'm just not feeling good" response. Mingyu believed him at first and wished him to feel better soon. He saw how he was quiet the whole day, even Chan did not have a chance with him.

Then he started talking to Chan again and joking with the other members except him. He would avoid meeting his eyes, go the other way when he sees him coming, sit as far away from him as possible.

Mingyu's starting to go crazy. He's been racking his brain thinking _"What did I do wrong?"_ and he couldn't come up with anything.

Seungcheol came to him one night after dance practice and asked "Dude is everything okay with you and Minghao?"

Mingyu just looked at him with those kicked puppy eyes and told him what he does and doesn't know.

"I don't know hyung. We were okay one day then he's not talking to me the next. We were okay during dinner. We bonded! We had a connection.." Seungcheol can only nod because it's true. He was silently observing the two during dinner and he saw how they looked at each other. How they smiled at each other. How they were seemingly lost in a world where there was only the two of them and he can't help but feel hurt for his friend too. He knows how long Mingyu's waited for that exact moment and now this?

"I tried approaching him several times but I could tell he wasn't feeling comfortable around me. I don't know what I did if I did something. And it's really frustrating hyung." Mingyu stopped as he was feeling some stinging in his eyes.

Seungcheol rubbed his back for comfort. "Do you want me to talk to Jun?"

Mingyu sighs. He looked at Seungcheol as if he's contemplating.

_What can Junhui hyung do? If he doesn't want to talk to me, he won't talk to me no matter what people tell him._

Mingyu shakes his head. "I don't know if that's a good idea. Minghao might hate me even more if he's forced to."

Seungcheol saw resignation in Mingyu's eyes and he hates it. Mingyu's one with a fighting spirit and seeing his friend like this, like he's lost a war, it just ain't right.

Jun are you up?

29/10/19 23:33

Cheollie hyung what's up?

29/10/19 23:41

Can I call you? Easier on the phone.

29/10/19 23:42

Waiting

29/10/19 23:42

"Hyung everything okay?" Junhui skipped the preamble.

"I don't know you tell me.."

Seungcheol sensed a bit of hesitation when Junhui speaks again. "I..I'm not sure what you mean?"

"Sure you do. But I'm feeling a little generous so here's a hint. Minghao and Mingyu."

Junhui whistles low. _Bingo_.

"I know you know what's going on. Why Minghao's avoiding Gyu and I'm not gonna make you tell me what you know. That's between you and Hao. But can you at least tell him to stop avoiding Mingyu? Talk to him at least? Mingyu's going crazy thinking what he did wrong and Mingyu does not deserve that. If he did something wrong to Minghao don't you think it's best to let him know? We are working together and this will throw us all off one way or another."

Junhui thinks about it. He knows Seuncheol is right but he doesn't know what else to do right now. He knows Mingyu doesn't deserve how Minghao's treating him but he also know why Minghao's very uncomfortable all of a sudden. And frankly speaking, this is clearly driving both him and Seungcheol over the edge too. Seungcheol's right. If they don't do something about this, it will affect the whole team sooner or later and they can't have that.

Junhui takes a deep breath. He might regret this later but this is the best thing to do.

"Hyung I will tell you something but only if you promise not to tell anybody because this is not even my secret to share and I am about to commit a breach of trust and I need to know that I can trust you not to do the same thing I'm doing now by telling the others."

Seungcheol nods his head but remembers the other can't see him so he said "I promise."

After another intake of breath Junhui goes.

"Remember what Hannie hyung told you about Minghao almost going to jail if not for this stranger's help?"

Seungcheol nods his head again then hums belatedly to acknowledge although he has a strong gut feeling he knows where this is going now.

"Minghao thinks it's Mingyu.. no.. he knows it's Mingyu. Like he's 100% sure about it." Junhui explains.

Seungcheol made a choking sound which alarmed Junhui.

"Hyung are you okay?"

Seungcheol ended the call only to do a video call this time.

Seungcheol sees Junhui sitting in the dark with lights reflecting off his face. He could hear the tv playing in the background.

"Where are you?” he asks.

"In my room."

"You have a TV in your room?" Seungcheol's eyes grew wide.

"Hyung. This in not why you called. But yes I have a TV in my room."

Seuncheol whistles before he speaks again.

"Okay.. so you said Minghao is avoiding Mingyu because he thinks Mingyu is that guy?" Junhui nods.

Face slowly morphing into something akin to understanding.

"You're suspiciously calm about this. I expected a very different response."

Seungcheol lifts a brow. Junhui continues.

"Oh my God you _knew_ all along didn't you??"

The shock in Junhui's face is comical but this is not the time to laugh. Seungcheol scrunches his brows this time.

"We didn't know from the start. We had a hunch when Jeonghan told us about the incident. I mean, how often you hear that happen?" He started to explain.

"Even Mingyu couldn't believe it. I'm gonna tell you something but you also have to vow to secrecy."

Junhui straightens up his back, nodding his head.

"Mingyu went a little crazy looking for him. He didn't know where to look for him after that night. He went to just about every place there are buskers hoping to see him again so you can only imagine what it was like for him when he found out that it was Minghao all along."

"So he knew it was Minghao but he didn't tell him? We're practically together everyday!" Junhui whisper shouts.

Seungcheol shakes his head. "You have to understand. Mingyu doesn't know if it was a big deal to Minghao as it was to him. He was worried that he's making this a big thing only to find out it really isn't."

Junhui slowly nods his head in understanding. He clicks his tongue before talking again.

"I just can't believe he had a chance to tell him the second time he rescued Minghao but he didn't say anything because he was worried like that? I mean, that could have prevented this whole awkward thing between them from happening." 

Seungcheol blinks, mouth agape.

 _"The second time?"_ He managed to ask when he recovered Junhui nods his head so fast Seungcheol thought he might strain his neck.

"Yeah. That day Mingyu had a solo photoshoot. So Minghao was trying to earn extra when this drunk guy jumped on him and then someone yanked him off Haohao and he started pulling Hao away. Hao didn't realize it was the same guy until after they were just standing there in a back alley. Minghao pointed it out even. That he was the same guy from before and the guy didn't deny anything. Mingyu had a chance to tell him but he didn't so here we are!"

Seungcheol's mind was running on overdrive at this point. This is the first time he's hearing about the second incident and he's feeling a mix of emotions. Happy, excited but mostly **betrayed**.

That giant didn't tell him about the second encounter.

He was brought back from his wildin' thoughts when Junhui clears his throat.

"So..what now hyung? What do we do about those two?"

Seungcheol thought about it.

"If it's up to me I would lock them up in the same room until they figure things out." He mumbles.

"Yeah. I was thinking the same." Junhui agrees.

Seungcheol looks at Junhui on the screen of his phone as if on cue, both leaders' eyes widen. Because it **is** up to them.

And so here we are. Mingyu and Minghao in a small meeting room, just the two of them.

Mingyu was told he was waiting for manager hyung so imagine his surprise when he sees Minghao come in.

He knew the other guy didn't know this was happening too if the shock on his face is anything to go by. It was too late when Minghao realized what was happening since the door locked behind him even before he could turn around.

Minghao stood there by the door nervously wringing his hands, trying to avoid eye contact with Mingyu as much as possible. Mingyu looks at him, not knowing what to do either.

Minghao tenses when he hears an audible sigh that is not his. He watches as Mingyu stands up and walks over to him.

Mingyu slowly reached out to pull Minghao to a chair to sit. Minghao didn't resist. Mingyu sits next to him.

"Minghao, I think you and I both know what our leaders are doing."

Minghao only nods his head, eyes trained on his lap.

"Can you at least talk to me? What did I do wrong?" His voice is so close to a whisper.

Minghao looks up tentatively only to see Mingyu's forehead creased, _pleading_.

Minghao takes a deep breath trying to calm his nerves down. Mingyu takes his hand carefully and just held it.

"I have something to tell you." He starts.

Minghao looks up to meet his eyes.

"It's.. it's something I should have told you a while ago.. i just... I just didn't know how."

Minghao presses his palm against Mingyu's own, encouraging him to go on.

"I don't know if it matters to you as it does to me.. and maybe that's why I kept it from you.."

"You knew?"

Mingyu whips his head up, eyes bulging in disbelief.

 _Does he know? Is that why he's been avoiding me_?

"I'm not sure if we're talking about the same thing?"

"Okay.. sorry to cut you off.. go on.." Minghao smiles at him. _Finally_.

"Yeah.. so.. it was me.. I was the guy that helped you out those couple of times..." he trails off, eyes looking away.

He did not see the way Minghao's blush bloom on his face slowly.

"Y..you.. you knew it was me? All these time?"

Mingyu shakes his head.

"My members had a hunch when some of your members mentioned about that trouble with the police. I tell them everything so they put two and two together. But I didn't think it was really possible until I heard you laugh when I made that stupid joke."

Mingyu explains, now mirroring the blush on Minghao's face. Neither of them knew what to say next.

They stayed quiet for while until Mingyu couldn't take the silence anymore.

"I just want you to know.. I really.. I searched everywhere for you after that first night.."

Minghao feels a blooming in his chest he didn't know it was capable of doing. He felt Mingyu squeeze his hand, tugging it, urging him to look at him. So he did.

"Do you know how many sleepless night I've had looking for you?"

Minghao blinks.

"Do you know how hard it was that second night I pulled your hand to not throw a punch because that jerk had you pinned down and scared? How hard hard it was not to hug you and comfort you the way I want to comfort you?"

Minghao smiles a little.

"Do you know how hard it was knowing who you were and not saying anything about it because I'm too scared it wasn't that big of a deal to you? That all these craziness is one sided?"

"..."

"Do you know how it hurts that you are so near but I can't hold you?" Mingyu squeezes the hand he's holding.

"How it hurt when I thought finally we have started on something then to wake up the next day with you going back to as if not even knowing me?"

Minghao uses his other hand to smooth the crease on Mingyu's forehead.

"Do you know how scary it was to think I have fallen in love with a complete stranger?"

Minghao froze halfway through running his thumb on Mingyu's forehead.

Mingyu holds that same hand with his other and brought it to his cheek and presses in on it.

A single tear fell when Mingyu felt Minghao runs his thumb over the high of his cheekbone. He leans in to the touch. There's no helping it. He feels overwhelmed. He's happy. He's scared. He's nervous. He's excited. He's embarrassed. He feels like he is going to burst.

"Minghao.." he sniffles.

"Hmm?"

"Why did you do that? Why did you avoid me?"

It's now Minghao's turn to sigh. He pursed his lips before he speaks.

"When I found out it's you.. I.. I don't know.. I got scared.. I didn't know how to proceed from there.."

"..."

"I.. you don't know how much I wanted to know who that guy was.. I thought about meeting that guy again and then it happened and he was so nice and sweet and maybe I felt something for the first time I didn't know I was capable of feeling.. and then I found out it was you and I was just so scared.. you.. you.. you acted as if you don't know anything and I believed that.. and I thought maybe you were just really nice and you're always willing to help and I didn't want to fall for someone who I.. " Minghao trails off realizing what he has just admitted. Not that he's scared of admitting it to the guy in front of him. He was scared at how he's suddenly realizing that that's it.. that he's falling.

"I didn't want to fall in love and not have it reciprocated. And that's what I thought what it was. So I avoided you. I know it's stupid and it was hard for me too but.. I didn't know what else to do.."

Mingyu looks at Minghao now sniffling and tears flowing freely on his own cheek.

Mingyu wipes his tears away. He tilts Minghao's chin up with his finger and looks him straight in the eyes.

"Minghao.."

"I'm here Gyu." Minghao whispers choking on his emotions. Mingyu smiles at the nickname.

"Can we stay like this?" He gulps. "I can't go back to not talking to you. To not holding you.. I.. I can't.."

Minghao smiles, the dimple on the corner of his lip showing.

"It doesn't have to be anything.. _for now at least_.. I just can't lose you like that again.."

Minghao nods his head smiling. He's happy they see this the same way. Minghao isn't sure what he wants out of this yet..but he does understand what Mingyu meant because that's exactly how he feels right now.

They looked into each other's smiling like a complete love fool but then again, maybe they are.

Somehow they are slowly leaning in on each other and when they were just a breath away, something clicks.

Literally clicks.

They looked at each other dumbly.

Mingyu looked around and nothing seems out of place.

"Are you _fucking_ kidding me Jeonghan? What is this the 90's??" The couple hears mumbling outside the room.

Mingyu knocks on the door and stands back waiting for someone to open it from the outside.

When it does, Jeonghan walks straight in to the far dark corner of the room to pick something up.

"Damn it!" He shrieks.

"Language!" Seungcheol reprimands.

All of a sudden, the other 10 are crowding in the small room.

"You used a tape recorder to spy on them????" Wonwoo's eyes widens in disbelief.

"That's stupid hyung. We all know that thing isn't gonna last long." Jihoon points out.

 _So that's what it is, huh._ Mingyu thinks.

Suddenly realizing what the recorder has caught, Mingyu tried to pry the offending thing off Jeonghan's hand.

Too bad Jeonghan's faster.

Jeonhan squints his eyes then a victorious grin spreads on his pretty face.

"How much would you bet this thing caught enough _juice_?"

If after a year the thirteen of them are still working closely together, it's not anybody else's business. Or when Seungcheol finally asked Jeonghan out. Or when Junhui asked a surprised Wonwoo if he likes him.

Or when Mingyu finally asked Minghao to be his boyfriend in front of all of their friends, it's nobody else's business.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much to everyone who waited patiently for the updates. I hope I did not disappoint you with every update.
> 
> Remember to stay safe everyone!
> 
> @haoships on twitter if you wanna scream at me
> 
> 😘😘😘

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading ^^.
> 
> If you liked this even just a little 👉👈kudos/comments are greatly appreciated 😊😊  
> 
> 
> @haoships on twitter


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